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He nodded. “It is crazy. But there’s nothing that we can do about it right now. Harold is working on it as much as he can. In the meantime, let’s go find out who the father of my baby is… shall we?” He gave her a teasing smile, and she managed to smile back at him just a little bit.
Neither of them saw the reporter hidden not too far away, snapping photographs of the two of them as they entered the obstetrician’s office.
They were shown into an examination room, and Scott grew quiet and slightly withdrawn when the nurse left them for a few moments. Naomi saw the change in him and worried.
“What’s the matter with you?” she asked, wondering if he was bothered because it was their first time out together anywhere, and of all places, it was an obstetrician’s office. She felt her stomach tighten a little.
He looked around at the walls where pictures of babies in the womb were hung, and at a nearby counter where a small array of educational devices showing the uterus and womb with a small fetus in it were sitting.
“I just… I guess I didn’t really think about the gravity of this. You’re…. you’re really pregnant. I’m going to be a…” he swallowed hard and his eyes grew wide, “a father. It’s a little surreal,” he finished quietly.
She realized then that he was finally coming to a place of acceptance with it, and she relaxed a little more, knowing that he would probably be all right with it, once he felt more comfortable.
The doctor came into the door and looked at them both with a smile, and then did a double take as he looked back at Scott. “Oh my… you’re Scott Thompson from the Los Angeles Waves, aren’t you?” He grew giddy with delight.
Scott nodded and gave him a polite smile, shaking his hand. “Yeah, I am. Nice to meet you, Doc.”
The doctor shook Scott’s hand with elation and then visibly tried to gather himself and act with a bit more professionalism. “I’m sorry; I’m just a really big fan. I didn’t expect to see you in here. So… so you’re going to be a father! Well congratulations! That’s wonderful!”
The doctor opened the chart and looked down at the papers inside, and his old weathered cheeks turned pink. “Oh… so, you’re here for a paternity test… well, then. We may be able to congratulate you afterward…” he turned away from the couple, embarrassed.
Scott saw his awkwardness and made light of the situation. “Oh, we’re sure it’s mine, we just need this for official documentation. I’m not doubtful at all.” He gave the doctor a confident smile, and the doctor glanced at Naomi with less assurance.
He performed the paternity test, and then hooked a machine up to Naomi’s belly, so that they could all listen to the baby’s heartbeat. The doctor brightened and smiled a little more then.
“One hundred fifty-five beats per minute! That’s good. You know… that is about the heart rate of most baby girls.” His eyes twinkled a little as he gave Scott and Naomi a knowing look. “Of course, we won’t really be able to tell what gender the baby is until about the fifth month, but the heart rate is usually a good indicator.”
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He went to his paperwork and then told them he’d contact them as soon as he had the paternity test results. Thanking them for coming in, and swearing confidence about their visit, he left them.
Scott turned and grinned at Naomi, and she could see in his eyes that excitement had taken the place of uncertainty. “Did you hear that? A girl… it’s probably a little girl. Wow! A daughter. I never thought I’d have a daughter…” he trailed off as he stood staring at the wall, not really looking at it as much as he was looking through it into his own future with a little girl to raise.
“Well, he said gender isn’t really determined until the fifth month,” Naomi replied to him gently as she adjusted her clothes once more.
“So I guess that means princess birthday parties… a pink room… a kitten…” he almost looked as if he was in a daze.
Naomi laughed a little and shook her head. “Come on. Let’s go,” she told him, taking hold of his arm. He followed her out of the office and stopped her before she got into her car.
“I want to take you shopping!” he announced excitedly. “I think we need to start getting things for the baby now. We don’t really have that much time. I mean… we’re both very busy people and the months are going to fly by so fast. We should really get on this now. Right now. Are you busy today? Can you come with me for a little while? I could meet you at the firm and then we could ride in my car. What do you think?” he asked in eager anticipation.
She stared at him. “Wait… you wouldn’t date me because you didn’t want to be seen out in public with me, and now you want to go baby gear shopping with me?” She couldn’t quite believe it, and while she wanted to believe it, it seemed as surreal to her as the baby did to him when they had first walked into the examination room.
He shrugged and his cheeks flushed somewhere between pink and red. “Yeah… I guess… I guess I do. I mean, we have this responsibility together, and we’ve got to start sometime, so now is good… isn’t it?”
Naomi felt a bubble of happiness rising up in her. It was finally beginning to happen. He wanted to be with her; out in public with her, in private with her, at the baby doctor’s office with her… everywhere that she wanted him to be with her. It was finally happening.
She brightened and smiled at him. “All right. I’ll meet you at the office and we can go from there.”
He gave her a nod, and they left in their cars. A short while later, she met him at her office and he drove her to a nearby baby boutique. He parked the car in the private garage and took her hand, helping her out of it.
“We’re really lucky. I called ahead and told them that we needed a private shopping appointment, so they cleared the store for us. There won’t be anyone else in there but us. Won’t that be nice?” He grinned as he walked to the back door of the store with her.
She felt her heart skip a beat and she felt a little cold as they entered the store. His words ricocheted off the walls of her mind. ‘There won’t be anyone else in there but us…’ She understood then that he was still trying to keep them behind closed doors, but at the same time, they were out together in public, shopping for things for the baby.
She told herself to put her fears and worries to rest, and to focus on the day with him. They were out of his house, and it was the second public place that they had been to that day, so it was already improving for her, and she was determined to focus on that.
They were in the store for two hours, and in that time frame, he had purchased a crib, two car seats, a bassinet, two strollers, a layette, a rocking chair, a bookcase, lamps, bedding, curtains, wall and room décor, toys, a wagon, a toy box, infant clothing, a baby bath with accessories, a mobile, a walker, a highchair, a bouncer, no end of baby items from teething rings to baby fingernail clippers, and a teddy bear.
